Two issues are driving the dispute: One is the town’s decision in 2007 to rezone the area where Abele Tractor & Equipment is located. Rod Abele is the fourth generation of his family to run a business on the site. Despite its longevity, tracing its roots to 1873, Abele found himself rezoned to a nonconforming use.

Now with Spotted Zebra Learing Center looking to move onto property behind where he demonstrates his crushers and excavators, Abele is worried he will be told the noise he has generated for decades is unacceptable.

Sheri Townsend said she doesn’t want to change her plans to build her school at 11 Kross Keys either. She wants to expand to serve 65 students, rather than the 50 she can fit in her leased space at 2 Kross Keys now. She also wants to start a second business in the building, Bizzy Bees, to provide a sensory environment for special needs students.

“We like the area. We’ve been there for eight years,” she said. “Our families come from across the Capital Region. It’s centrally located.”

Sheri Townsend sits in her current school with images of the new one she wants to build. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)

While Townsend says she is used to being near Abele’s business, he responds that her current school is near where he parks his equipment. The new building will be right next to where he has piles of concrete and dirt he uses for demonstrations of the heavy equipment he sells.

Town Supervisor Paula Mahan told Abele she wants to keep his business in Colonie, but she did not make any promises about reversing the Planning Board’s action.

“No one here is trying to squeeze you out of that location,” she said.

Tim O'Brien

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